Roger Penske announced on Friday several changes for qualifying and the experience surrounding this year’s Indianapolis 500.
The first major change is that the cars should have upwards of 45 additional horsepower in qualifying trim. This is expected to produce some of the fastest speeds in the history of the track.
Penske is also making it a point to continue to have the idea of qualification bumping. Bump day will create extra excitement with each team yet to lock in a spot allowed multiple attempts to qualify within a 75-minute session.
A big focus in the coming years will be to enhance the experience for fans attending the race. The main facet that fans will notice is the addition of 30 large video boards throughout the circuit to make sure all fans will be able to see live views, replays, and scoreboards.
As part of that expansion, a large video board measuring 100 feet wide by 20 feet high will be available for fans in the Pagoda.
Verizon is also partnering with the track to ensure that it will be the first motorsports facility to be covered by wideband 5G cellular technology.
“I am impressed with the entire team here at Indianapolis,” said Penske.
“I am very excited about the enhancements to qualifying weekend, the largest ever ‘500’ purse, new sponsors and the significant investments we are making to the IndyCar series and to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.”
Additionally Penske announced that the purse will increase for this year up to $15 million with the winner earning over $2 million alone.
This year will the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500, which will be run 100 days from today on May 24.
